Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: TheAndy500 on June 19, 2013, 03:14:42 PM



Title: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: TheAndy500 on June 19, 2013, 03:14:42 PM
0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: sticklee on June 19, 2013, 03:17:27 PM
Its never a contant value. As the market fluctuates, so does the price of each coin. Right now bitcoin is hovering around $100 a coin, so .25btc is about $25usd.


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: TheAndy500 on June 19, 2013, 03:22:23 PM
I mean the terminology.  Like 1/100th of a dollar is a penny. 


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: themagicdrake on June 19, 2013, 03:28:49 PM
I'm thinking metric units are the current preferred nomenclature. I've seen those used before.
The smallest unit of the Bitcoin currency (1/100,000,000) has been named "satoshi".


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: Steve132 on June 19, 2013, 03:38:09 PM
> 0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

Basically, metric prefixes are used. (mega = 1000000,kilo=1000,centi=1/100,milli=1/1000, micro=1/1000000),

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#What_do_I_call_the_various_denominations_of_bitcoin.3F

From that page:

1 BTC = 1 bitcoin
0.01 BTC = 1 cBTC = 1 centibitcoin (also referred to as bitcent)
0.001 BTC = 1 mBTC = 1 millibitcoin (also referred to as mbit (pronounced em-bit) or millibit or even bitmill)
0.000 001 BTC = 1 μBTC = 1 microbitcoin (also referred to as ubit (pronounced yu-bit) or microbit)
One exception is the "satoshi" which is smallest denomination currently possible
0.000 000 01 BTC = 1 satoshi (pronounced sa-toh-shee)



Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: DeathAndTaxes on June 19, 2013, 03:39:37 PM
Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: fishy on June 19, 2013, 03:47:37 PM
Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.

0.25 BTC is what most people use.


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: DannyHamilton on June 20, 2013, 09:20:42 AM
Steve132 got it but I would point out nobody really uses 1/100th as a terminology.

As a practical example 0.25 BTC is 0.25 BTC or 250 mBTC.

0.25 BTC is what most people use.

I sort of doubt that millibitcoins will ever catch on.  For most people it's just as easy to write and understand 0.01 BTC as 10 mBTC.  I suspect that the leading zeros will get messy enough though when we approach the tens or hundreds of microbitcoin in everyday purchases to drive the adoption of the µBTC.  It just seems easier to deal with 12 µBTC than 0.000012 BTC


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: Killiz on June 20, 2013, 11:29:57 AM
0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?
roughly 25 items from herehttp://simplyfantasticbooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dollar-store.jpg


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: naphto on June 20, 2013, 12:53:30 PM
mBTC will be used if the price of btc increase a little bit


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: stas on June 20, 2013, 03:05:17 PM
the sooner the better :)


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: legitnick on June 20, 2013, 03:12:33 PM
0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?

Go to Preev.com , its a great bitcoin converter.


Title: Re: Noob question: Bitcoin denominations
Post by: DannyHamilton on June 20, 2013, 04:04:50 PM
0.25 bitcoins is equal to 25 what?
Go to Preev.com , its a great bitcoin converter.

But useless to this conversation.

I mean the terminology.  Like 1/100th of a dollar is a penny. 

The OP is looking for a "name" for 0.25 bitcoin.

In the same way that 0.25 dollars is called a "quarter", 0.10 dollars is called a "dime", 0.05 dollars is called a "nickle", and 0.01 dollars is called a "penny", and any increment of pennies are called "cents".

I suppose you could call 0.50 BTC a "half-bitcoin", 0.25 BTC a "quarter-bitcoin" or a "fourth-of-a-bitcoin", 0.10 BTC a "tenth-of-a-bitcoin", 0.05 BTC a "twentieth-of-a-bitcoin", and 0.01 BTC a "hundredth-of-a-bitcoin".  But other than the half-bitcoin that all feels a bit silly.

I suspect people will stick with referring to 0.25 BTC as "point twenty-five bitcoin" for quite a while.  When average prices of everyday things begin all having two or more leading zeros, you *might* see people referring to values like 0.00125 BTC as "one point two five (or one and a quarter) millibitcoin" (or millibits, or millies, or millys or millis, or mils, or whatever slang develops organically), but it's quite likely that people will simply skip the millibitcoin designation and go straight to referring to the value as "twelve hundred fifty microbitcoin" (or microbits, or micros, or mikes, or mikeys, or micks, or whatever slang develops organically).